Use Apple TV in the Classroom? Please Do This Tip!

Here is a quick tip for Apple TV teachers!

This is a must for those teachers use the great benefits that the AppleTV can bring to the classroom.

Do you see this intro screen when the Apple TV turns on?

Those movies on the top? While a lot of these are the most popular movies playing though it is, they may not be the most appropriate for our students. This happened just today as I was teaching in another classroom, and it was a small distraction during my lesson. Kids were excited to see their favorite movie, in this instance, Big Hero 6. They cheered and became excited. While this case was harmless, I can only imagine other cases where movies that are rated PG-13 or higher can cause some concern for teachers of younger students. These can even be a distraction for high schoolers, who will likely veer off topic if they see a movie that they like or dislike.

We as teachers do not need to be showing popular movies in our classes. Kids have access to them with their families.

It is easy to remove these distractions in Settings. It should take you less than two minutes.

Here are the steps to do this:

1. On your Apple TV menu, go to Settings>General>Restrictions

2. You will need to set a 4 digit passcode (Remember this!)

3. Go to “Purchase and Rental” and toggle to “HIDE”

4. That's it!

At my school, we often use the Apple TV in our assemblies for the whole school. We have been concerned about popular movie titles being shown. It would not be beneficial for the entire school community to see these images, those which we can not control. We have avoided this by mirroring straight to the device screen.

Just go to Settings > Airplay and turn on ‘Conference Room Display’, that will give you a screen on startup just showing the network and Apple TV name on a black screen when first turned on. On the occasions where you need your movies rather than Airplay just press the ‘MENU’ button on the remote and the main menu comes up as normal. I use this option in the primary schools I run with the added bonus of reminding staff what the Apple TV is called they are standing in front of!

Similarly you can go through the main menu setting and set any of the icons below the “music, computers, & settings” row to hide. I can’t think of a lot of situations where World Wrestling Entertainment’s AppleTV channel would be a good classroom resource.